David Cooper
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0384 - Clancy Bouvier
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 09:00:01 +0000 UTCMarge's father is an unintentionally mysterious figure in the show - he rarely comes up, and only in flashback. This is the first time he comes up (although Marge's mother Jacqueline has appeared or been mentioned a few times before this point.)
Although I think most people will remember him from his other significant "classic era" appearance, in season 6's "Fear of Flying":
My assumption throughout all this was that he had died at some unspecified point - but I was surprised to learn that his death was not actually confirmed until season 18's "Jazzy and the Pussycats" in an off hand remark by Homer:
and his cause of death is not revealed until season 27's "Puffless":
This is a major revelation that sets the plot of the episode in motion, as it causes Patty and Selma to quit smoking. It's also a major revelation in that until then fans thought Clancy had died in a rollercoaster accident, as detailed in the non-canon "Simpsons Illustrated" #4:
Even Mr Bouvier's name was a source of mystery for some time. "Wedding For Disaster, from season 20, confirms Clancy on Homer and Marge's wedding certificate:
although there may have been some non-canon uses of this name before then, such as in "The Marge Book", which was released a few weeks before this episode aired, in 2009.
Later, Clancy is shown to have made it to both Heaven and Hell (in season 30's "Bart's Not Dead" and season 34's "Homer's Adventures Through The Windshield Glass"):
But as these are dreamy/fantasy type sequences (from Bart and Homer), it is just as likely that he is not in either, and there is no afterlife.
Perhaps next time we meet Clancy we'll investigate his changing appearance a bit more closely - more than just the standard "sometimes his hair is blue" Simpsons phenomenon, he seems to have two separate and distinct designs.
This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.
Comments
Alexander Hale
Absolutely, it's pretty interesting that since I went deep into the Simpsons online fandom the episodes 'Puffless' and 'Homer's Adventures Through the Windscreen Glass' have aired, which explore him more than any previous episodes and answer a few of the old questions. I think 'Puffless' (a genuinely good later season episode FYI) has some photos of him with the girls when they were all younger and he has blue hair/looks like he did in Fear of Flying. It's kind of interesting how his appearance has changed semi-consistently across his multiple appearances - thinner with blue hair when Marge was a little girl, fatter with red hair when she was a teenage, and (in Walking Big and Tall, amongst a few depictions in between those) an old man with grey/balding hair. Has he potentially had more historical character design changes than Dr Hibbert? Do you think he was INTENTIONALLY inconsistent in his few old school appearances (and mentions), in one of those quietly abandoned early season jokes that doesn't quite land when analysed in 2024 by SCHOLARS such as us (see again: Dr Hibbert's changing hairstyles)?
David Cooper
Yes! I discovered that in this research and forgot to mention it! He's a strange untapped well, they could certainly get an episode out of him/his relationship with his daughters if they wanted.
David Cooper
Sorry! Try to look surprised when your time comes.
Alexander Hale
Also, something the show has never explored (which blew my mind when I realised) is that Clancy was apparently still alive when Lisa was born, as shown in the season 26 episode 'Walking Big and Tall'.
Alexander Hale
I've been fascinated with Clancy for awhile - as you say, he is the totally unintentional mystery of the show. The thing I find most interesting/mysterious is the origins of his name. Obviously he shares a forename with a certain Police Chief, and that first name is somewhat unusual, so I wondered whether there was a link there. I thought I'd maybe cracked that code when I realised that Matt Groening's maternal family name was Wiggum; as we know, a lot of The Simpsons/extended family take their names from the Groenings, so the logical conclusion here was surely that his maternal grandfather would be named Clancy Wiggum, and that thus Bart's maternal grandfather would also be named Clancy (despite that name being used elsewhere). WELL GUESS WHAT??! It wasn't. His name was Mathias 'Matt' Wiggum (originally Pederson). Wild eh?
sea
"it is just as likely that he is not in either, and there is no afterlife." Hey! Spoilers!
